George E. Tebeau (December 26, 1861 – February 4, 1923) was an American professional baseball player who played as an

outfielder An outfielder is a person playing in one of the three defensive positions in baseball or softball, farthest from the batter. These defenders are the left fielder, the center fielder, and the right fielder. As an outfielder, their duty is to cat ...

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

. He played in the big leagues between and for the

Cincinnati Red Stockings The Cincinnati Red Stockings of were baseball's first all-professional team, with ten salaried players. The Cincinnati Base Ball Club formed in 1866 and fielded competitive teams in the National Association of Base Ball Players (NABBP) 1867– ...

(1887–1889) and

Toledo Maumees The Toledo Maumees were a baseball team originally formed in 1888. The team was based in Toledo, Ohio, and formed part of the Tri-State League for one season. Their home games were played at Speranza Park in Toledo. In 1889, the Maumees moved to th ...

(1890) of the

American Association American Association may refer to: Baseball * American Association (1882–1891), a major league active from 1882 to 1891 * American Association (1902–1997), a minor league active from 1902 to 1962 and 1969 to 1997 * American Association of Profe ...

, and with the Washington Senators (1894) and

Cleveland Spiders The Cleveland Spiders were an American professional baseball team based in Cleveland, Ohio. The team competed at the major league level from 1887 to 1899, first for two seasons as a member of the now-defunct American Association (AA), followed ...

(1894–1895) of the

National League The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League (NL), is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, and the world's oldest extant professional team s ...

. Tebeau batted and threw right-handed.

Career

In a six-season career, Tebeau was a .269 lifetime hitter with 15

home run In baseball, a home run (abbreviated HR) is scored when the ball is hit in such a way that the batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safely in one play without any errors being committed by the defensive team. A home run i ...

s and 311

runs batted in A run batted in (RBI; plural RBIs ) is a statistic in baseball and softball that credits a batter for making a play that allows a run to be scored (except in certain situations such as when an error is made on the play). For example, if the bat ...

in 628

games played Games played (GP) is a statistic used in team sports to indicate the total number of games in which a player has participated (in any capacity); the statistic is generally applied irrespective of whatever portion of the game is contested. Basebal ...

. Nicknamed "White Wings" for his speed, he also totaled 228

stolen base In baseball, a stolen base occurs when a runner advances to a base to which they are not entitled and the official scorer rules that the advance should be credited to the action of the runner. The umpires determine whether the runner is safe or ...

s, 623

hits Hits or H.I.T.S. may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music * ''H.I.T.S.'', 1991 album by New Kids on the Block * ''...Hits'' (Phil Collins album), 1998 * ''Hits'' (compilation series), 1984–2006; 2014 - a British compilation album se ...

, 96 doubles, 54

triples TripleS (stylized as tripleS; Help:IPA/English, /ˈtɹɪpəl:ɛs/; ) is a South Korean girl group formed by MODHAUS. They aim to be the world's first decentralized K-pop idol group. The members will rotate between the group, sub-unit, and solo ac ...

, and 441

runs scored In baseball, a run is scored when a player advances around first, second and third base and returns safely to home plate, touching the bases in that order, before three outs are recorded and all obligations to reach base safely on batted balls ...

. The older brother of

infielder An infielder is a baseball player stationed at one of four defensive "infield" positions on the baseball field. Standard arrangement of positions In a game of baseball, two teams of nine players take turns playing offensive and defensive roles. ...

Patsy Tebeau Oliver Wendell "Patsy" Tebeau (December 5, 1864 – May 16, 1918) was an American first baseman, third baseman, and manager in Major League Baseball.

, who was his teammate while in Cleveland, George played over 50 games at all three outfield positions and

first base A first baseman, abbreviated 1B, is the player on a baseball or softball team who fields the area nearest first base, the first of four bases a baserunner must touch in succession to score a run. The first baseman is responsible for the majori ...

. One of his most productive seasons came in 1889 with Cincinnati, when he hit .252 and posted career-highs in stolen bases (61), RBI (70), runs (110), hits (110) and walks (69). He later became the owner of the Kansas City Blues franchise of the American Association. In addition, Tebeau is recognized as the joint-first Major League Baseball player ever to hit a home run in the first at-bat of his career. He shares this "first ever" distinction with

Mike Griffin Mike may refer to: Animals * Mike (cat), cat and guardian of the British Museum * Mike the Headless Chicken, chicken that lived for 18 months after his head had been cut off * Mike (chimpanzee), a chimpanzee featured in several books and documenta ...

; both Tebeau and Griffin hit their debut at-bat home runs on the same day, and as it is unclear which player hit his home run at a chronologically earlier time of the day, both have historically been considered the "first." Tebeau died in

Denver Denver () is a consolidated city and county, the capital, and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Its population was 715,522 at the 2020 census, a 19.22% increase since 2010. It is the 19th-most populous city in the Unit ...

at the age of 61.

External links

Retrosheet
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tebeau, George 19th-century baseball players Cincinnati Red Stockings (AA) players Cleveland Spiders players Toledo Maumees players Portland Webfeet players Washington Senators (1891–1899) players Major League Baseball outfielders Baseball players from St. Louis Denver (minor league baseball) players Denver Mountain Lions players Fort Wayne Farmers players Columbus Senators players Columbus Buckeyes (minor league) players Grand Rapids Furnituremakers players Denver Grizzlies (baseball) players Kansas City Blues (baseball) players Louisville Colonels (minor league) managers 1861 births 1923 deaths Kansas City Blues (baseball) managers

Career

See also

External links